Syria shouldn’t be a target
COMMENTARY
Patrick Jennings

The war in Iraq is drawing to a close and the peace operation is gearing up. We won the military battle and everyone deserves a well-earned pat on the back. The dust hasn’t even settled around Tikrit and Baghdad, but some people are already turning their attention to the third target in the war against terror.

Nestled between Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, Syria finds itself the target of some harsh words from the Bush government. Syria is not in the official “axis of evil,” but the CIA has it on the list of countries that support terrorism. We’re concerned that Syria is doing any number of things. They could be providing safe haven to members of Saddam’s toppled regime. Syria could be testing weapons of mass destruction. Syria has a history of close ties to Iraq, closer than many Arab countries, actually. Any of these could invoke the wrath of the American military.

A lot of you think that any war in the Middle East is about oil. Don’t worry, Syria doesn’t have any, but it reportedly gets their petroleum illegally from Iraq.

Lets go through the war justification checklist.

Support terrorists? They funded the Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Experts believe it’s Syria that runs the show in Lebanon, a staging point for terrorism against Israel. Check.

Weapons of mass destruction? Unlike Iraq, we have no evidence that Syria has ever had these, let alone stockpiles them. No check.

Show contempt for the world community and United Nations? Syria has provided information on al Qaeda, supported the first Gulf War and voted in favor of U.N. resolution 1441. No check.

Oppress citizens? Syria is similar to Iraq in this regard. State run media, little-to-no freedom of speech, one-party elections, etc. However, there are substantially fewer instances of actual widespread violence against the population like Saddam attacked the Kurds. There’s not enough to make an argument for “liberating” the Syrian people though. No check.

That’s only one out of four on the patented-war justification checklist. In reality, we aren’t going to war against Syria any time soon. Despite what you may think, the people inside the Beltway have more than one brain to share between them.

All right, so why are we rattling our sabers in their direction? It’s all about intimidation. Syria has cooperated with the United States just enough to prevent incurring our immediate wrath. Hopefully, if we can spook them enough, they’ll stop actively trying to destroy Israel.

Oh yes, the Israelis. If we went to war to help preserve the state of Israel, we should’ve started in Syria or Lebanon. Both of those countries share a border with northern Israel. Israel holds a chunk of land called the Golan Heights that Syria would like back. Outside of the Palestine Liberation Organization, no country so gleefully sends money to anti-Israel terrorists than Syria. Well, maybe Saudi Arabia, but that’s an entirely different article.

Of course, the intimidation won’t be limited to Damascus. Every Arab country from Iran to Egypt to Yemen will get the message. The United States doesn’t like it when you support terrorists. The United States doesn’t like it when you deny rights to your people. The United States doesn’t like it when you don’t play nice with Israel. The United States is trying to change the status quo in the entire region, which has been resistant to positive change for 50 years.

Hopefully, a determined show of force in Iraq has convinced those in power to see things differently.

Patrick Jennings is a freshman economics major from Melbourne, Fla.